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6/28/16

I strongly dislike cleaning. Strangely enough, though, I'm a fan of organizing (when I feel like it). I love my professionally organized closet, the OXO POPup Containers in my pantry (really just a kitchen cabinet) and various food containers I bought from QVC that have perfectly locking lids.

When OXO reached out to see if I'd like to test out their newly developed Good Grips Glass Snap Containers, I jumped up and down (literally...or maybe figuratively!). These are glass containers that have snap on lids that can be used to prep, store, cook and serve the food. They look good and can go from the freezer to your oven (take the lids off first of course). There will be no spills with these!

The set I received includes 4 round containers of different sizes (which all fit inside one another) and 4 matching lids.

I used these containers to store the prepped ingredients for my Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Chickpeas With Spinach & Poached Egg and then to store the leftovers. They worked really well!

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425.2. Drizzled diced sweet potatoes and chickpeas with oil and season with salt and pepper in the largest OXO bowl, cover with the snap on lid and shake.
3. Roast the sweet potato and chickpeas in a single layer on a large cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, shake all the dressing ingredients in a Little Salad Dressing Shaker {I love how its green color matches the color of my kitchen}.
5. Toss the roasted vegetables with torn spinach leaves and enough dressing to coat {you'll have some of the dressing left over}. Use 2-in-1 Salad Servers to serve this "salad" and top the dish with a poached egg.

If you have leftovers, store them in the refrigerator in one of the smaller glass containers!

Disclosure: I was provided with the set of OXO products as a gift but was not compensated otherwise for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

6/23/16

I love potatoes! Potato salad is particularly something I love in the summer. There are so many different ingredients you can incorporate, not to mention the types of potatoes you can use: purple, sweet or regular red skinned ones.

Last night I made a batch of potato salad inspired by one of my other favorite summer things: picnic dinners.

Here's what happened: I had an incredibly frustrating time shopping for a swimming suit Monday after work. To remedy the situation, I treated myself to a pedicure and then picked up a bunch of things at World Market for a picnic dinner. There were chips and salsa, olives, salami, smoked gouda, hard cider, and a few items from my fridge (cucumbers and hummus).

Last night I took some of the leftovers from the picnic dinner and turned them into a potato salad.

6/20/16

Last month before I went on vacation to Iceland, I needed to do quite a bit of cleaning. One of the cleaning tasks was my refrigerator. I had random produce and some fresh shrimp I bought on a whim.

In order to avoid wasting produce, I decided to make soup. Soup or pasta or frittata are great ways to use up random ingredients.

This is more of a blueprint than a recipe ;)

Clean Out The Fridge Shrimp And Vegetable Soup
1. Use shrimp shells, a few garlic cloves, pepper corns and onion skins to make broth.
2. Saute sliced mushrooms in a bit of olive oil.
3. Add shrimp broth. Add sliced fennel and bok choy and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
4. Add fresh corn kernels, thinly sliced shallot and whole shrimp and simmer until the shrimp are cooked through (pink).
5. Season the soup with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil and serve topped with scallions.

This was a satisfying meal which made me feel better about not wasting food for once.

6/15/16

What do man buns, avocado toasts and snapchat have in common? Well, they are the latest "it" things.

If you had to guess, which one do you think I support? Yes, only one!

Avocado toasts of course.

I love smashing avocado on toasted sourdough bread and sprinkling it with flaky salt. Sometimes I go a bit fancier and add sriracha or slices of tomato or black sesame seeds.

When Sabra asked me if I'd like to develop a recipe (more an idea) for an avocado toast using one of their new Sabra Veggie Fusions, I wanted to make something that would qualify as a full meal. Try my Guacamole Toast With Goat Cheese, Asparagus & Hard Boiled Eggs for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

When it comes to food, I am not usually a minimalist: I like several toppings on my pizza, Swiss cheese and spicy mayo on my burgers, and something other than just lime and garlic in my guacamole.

Sabra's Veggie Fusions Guacamole comes in 3 flavors: garden vegetable, Southwestern, and mango lime. All flavors have 30 percent less fat than the regular guacamole and are packed with real vegetables such as carrots and peppers that add antioxidants, vitamins and fiber to Hass avocados. Also, if you are vegan, keep a kosher or a gluten-free diet, these are perfect for you!

Quick tip: stir the veggie fusion guacamole after opening the container and before digging in.

6/13/16

Looking for a quick Meatless Monday dinner? Something that will require minimum chopping, prepping and effort on your part? Well, I have just what you need!

How about using your broiler to do 99% of the work?

All you need to do is drizzle asparagus, portobella mushroom, corn on the cob and halved Roma tomatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil the vegetables for 10-20 minutes depending on their size, checking often. Asparagus will definitely need less time than the rest of the vegetables.

Also, make sure to rotate the corn every 5 minutes or so.

Add guacamole, hummus, toasted baguette and a glass of rose, and you are all set. Ok, maybe a bowl of cold watermelon chunks will be good with this as well ;)

6/9/16

1) Roast sweet potatoes and beets drizzled in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Make sure to have air conditioning on! Once roasted, top with goat cheese.
2) Make a salad of raw fennel, avocado, tomatoes, red onion and basil and dress it simply with olive oil, lemon juice and season with salt & pepper.
3) Boil corn.
3) Binge on fresh cherries.

Serving this on a small cookie sheet is fun and makes for an easy couch meal :)

6/6/16

Happy Monday! Did you miss me? I know I haven't posted in a few weeks, but I've still been eating and cooking :)

Yesterday for breakfast I made something summery, fresh, easy, and vegetarian that will become my go to breakfast for this week and the rest of the summer!

Perfect Meatless Monday Summer Breakfast: English Muffin With Ricotta, Nectarines & Honey
1. Toast an English muffin
2. Slather the English muffin with ricotta (please use full fat)
3. Top ricotta with slices of nectarine
4. Drizzle nectarine with honey and sprinkle with smoked birch salt from Iceland {if you haven't been to Iceland and don't have smoked birch salt, use any salt you like}
5. Top the entire concoction with fresh basil

How good was this? It was awesome! You get the crunch of the toasted English muffin with the smoothness of ricotta; the sweetness from the honey contrasting the smoked salt, and the freshness of basil and nectarines!

There are a million variations to this dish, but I'll give you a few
1. Use peaches or strawberries or bananas instead of nectarines
2. Drizzle balsamic vinegar reduction instead of honey
3. Try mint or cilantro instead of basil
4. For something savory, add slices of tomatoes and cucumbers to the ricotta topped English muffin and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper